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. 2022 Sep;69(5):e3346-e3351.
doi: 10.1111/tbed.14625. Epub 2022 Jun 22.

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 clade B.1.2 in three snow leopards

Leyi Wang  1 , Zoltan S Gyimesi  2 , Mary Lea Killian  3 , Mia Torchetti  3 , Colleen Olmstead  1 , Richard Fredrickson  1 , Karen A Terio  4
Affiliations

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 clade B.1.2 in three snow leopards

Leyi Wang et al. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is one of seven coronaviruses known to infect humans. Different from other concerned coronavirus and influenza viruses, SARS-CoV-2 has a higher basic reproduction number and thus transmits more efficiently among hosts. Testing animals for SARS-CoV-2 may help decipher virus reservoirs, transmission and pathogenesis. Here, we report the first detection of SARS-CoV-2 in three snow leopards (Panthera uncia) in a zoo in Kentucky in 2020, the first year of the pandemic. Sequence analysis revealed that snow leopard SARS-CoV-2 strains were non-variant B.1.2 lineage and closely correlated with human strains. One snow leopard shed SARS-CoV-2 in faeces up to 4 weeks. Based on clinical signs and viral shedding periods and levels in the three snow leopards, animal-to-animal transmission events could not be excluded. Further testing of SARS-CoV-2 in animals is needed.

Keywords: Panthera uncia; SARS-CoV-2; detection; snow leopard; viral shedding.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Phylogenetic tree analysis of spike gene of SARS‐CoV‐2 strains of animals as well as human including two snow leopard strains KY‐20‐43641 and KY‐20‐43642 from our study marked with red colour. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon and Lambda variant strains were included in the analysis
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
SARS‐CoV‐2 shedding in three snow leopards S1, S2 and S3 from 10 December 2020 to 10 January 2021, as measured by N1 and N2 real‐time RT‐PCR. Ct values of samples with negative results were set to 40
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